Nov 17, 2009

Thank You Mom

Lately I find myself thinking of all of the things I wish I had said to Dad. I said it all in my goodbye to him after he was gone and I like to think he heard me and I hope more than anything that he already knew.

I guess what I discovered is that you think you have all of the time in the world to show people how much they mean to you, but now I know that is not true. So I decided to write a thank you letter to my mother and tell her how special she is. I sent it via snail mail but I've included it here:

Dear Mom,

I never realized until I had my own children how difficult (and wonderful) being a mother is. I just wanted to say thank you.

Thank you for sharing your love of the ocean. There is no better place to be then at the beach. I owe that feeling to you.
Thank you for introducing me to the word of books. One of my favourite things to do is escape into a great read.
Thank you for decorating my room with Strawberry Shortcake. I loved it!
Thank you for laughing at my mistakes instead of judging them (Moooom, I did something really bad).
Thank you for the Easter treasure hunts. I can’t wait to try that with Cooper and Jacob.
Thank you for painting the mural in Jacob’s room with me. I am sure I would not have had the guts to do it alone.
Thank you for your love of music. Randy still thinks I’m crazy when I crank my tunes, but I know where I got that from.
Thank you for baking the Christmas cookies we decorated every year.
Thank you for loving me even when I was obnoxious (which I know I was a lot).
Thank you for raising me to believe that I could do and be whatever I wanted, with the confidence to try new things and to go new places.
Thank you for being there when I needed you with advice, a recipe or a great teaching idea.
Thank you for being such a great example. It is because of you that I tried to be a loving, creative and fun teacher.
Thank you for the long drives by the ocean and the stops for ice cream.
Thank you for the thoughtful gifts you have bought me. You have great taste.
Thank you for letting me come into your classroom and work with your students and trusting me to go into your friends’ classrooms too. It made me feel I could do that one day.
Thank you for the sacrifices you made as a parent, working full time.
Thank you for being my Euchre partner.
Thank you for baking Come and Get ‘Em Cookies.
Thank you for how much you love my boys. I can’t tell you how much I love the relationship you have with Jacob and will have with Cooper.
Thank you for making me peanut butter sandwiches with a heart in the middle when I was sick.
Thank you for being there whenever I call with a question, no matter how trivial. Like “How do I boil an egg?”
Thank you for helping me with school projects, even when they were last minute.
Thank you for all our family Christmas traditions. I love sharing them with my family.
Thank you for the times we spent with Grammy and Big Em. I always loved those visits.
Thank you for having a sense of humour and loving to laugh.
Thank you for countless trips to the beach for lounging, walking, reading, chips and, if we are brave, dips in the water.
Thank you for the birthday cake making tips.
Thank you for time spent playing Shanghai and building puzzles.
Thank you for introducing me to jigzone. What a great way to waste time.
Thank you for coming to visit Randy and I in London. We loved having you both there.
Thank you for giving me advice on being a kinder person. I am working on it.
Thank you for being here for the birth of both of my boys. Having you here kept me calmer and less afraid (believe it or not).
Thank you for all of the great Kiss of Death Tour memories.
Thank you for introducing me to Coronation Street.
Thank you for all that you did for my wedding. You made it so special when you said your speech.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, for a million things, for everything. I don’t know what I would do without you. There are so many more things, small things, big things.

I have to say it again, Mom. Thank you with all my heart, and I want to tell you that I love you so very, very much and that I am so proud to tell people that you are my mother. I hope that I can do a great job being a mom just like you are and have been to me.

Love, Sarah Jane

I wanted to post this because I am hoping that this will spark/inspire one of you to write a letter to someone you love...a parent, child, husband, wife, friend, brother, sister, grandparent. Some of you know the heartache of losing someone you love: the missing, the wishing, the tears, so I think this will make more sense to you, but for those of you lucky enough to still have everyone you hold close in your heart please think of doing this too...it can only lead to good. I found myself laughing and crying at the memories that came flooding back.

When I was debating whether to send the letter to my mother now, or to wait, my great Twitter friends encouraged me to send it now. One friend (thanks Consuelo @cbernardi)sent me this quote from Maya Angelou: 'I've learned people forget what you said and what you did but people never forget how you made them feel.' I am hoping this letter makes my mom feel cherished, appreciated and loved.

This was the most beautiful post... so lovely... your mom will be so happy, her heart will fill with so much love and I'm sure it will also make her cry. You're an awesome mom and daughter, that is for sure.